Goodbye Brother Peter

Today there was a short news article about the passing of a La Salle Brother, Peter Phelan.

It was only yesterday while we were having tea that my good friend informed me that Bro Peter who had been our colleague as well as school principal for a short period in La Salle School, Kota Kinabalu, had returned to Ireland because his cancer was terminal and the doctor had said that he was weeks away from death. Having spent the greater part of his life in Sabah, he wanted to die in his homeland.

At that time, we didn’t know that he had actually passed on, a day ago.

According to the press release given by another Brother, Brother Peter was accompanied home to Ireland on 18 Feb and he passed away on 27 Feb.

He was a shy but charming man with grey blue eyes that twinkled when he smiled. He used to teach Geography. A strict disciplinarian, he was always fair in his policies. He didn’t have to raise his voice when angry but his eyes were like chips of ice and he spoke very softly when angered. Nowhere did we see any evidence of the fiery Irish temper.

Nonetheless the naughty boys were afraid of him and gave him the nickname of Kojak, a one-time famous television character, the bald-headed police officer who always got his man. Brother Peter was by no means bald but I guess it was the way he carried himself, a very stern looking man who brooked no nonsense from erstwhile students.

To us teachers, he was a very understanding person, kind and compassionate. All of us had the highest respect for him. He would go out of his way to help if you had a problem. I remember him giving me a lift to the nursery to fetch my little girl and then sending us home when my car was in the workshop. How many school principals will do that? This is just one example of his kindness.

Unfortunately, the hot weather in Kota Kinabalu did not suit him and he developed skin cancer. This did not stop him from continuing his work. He transferred to the interior, to Tambunan where the weather was cooler and suited him better. He was principal of St Martin’s, a La Salle brother school and later went to Nabawan, also in the interior of Sabah where he founded and ran a hostel, La Salle Butitin, for rural students who would otherwise have to walk miles in order to get to school. According to Datuk Brother Charles O’Leary, Bro Peter “fed, boarded and educated hundreds of boys and girls in this deprived area in Sabah.”

Bro Peter gave unstintingly of his best to the children and the native community in Sabah and it can be said he gave his life in service of the poor and the under-privileged. I remember him driving down in an old pickup every weekend without fail to get supplies for his “children” in the interior, the journey each way taking many hours of hard driving on unsealed roads as well.

He also did research and authored two books entitled “Headhunting and the Magang Ceremony in Sabah” and “ Traditional Stone and Wood Monuments of Sabah”.

Your life’s work is done, Bro Peter. You are truly a giant among men. You have touched many lives, including mine. Rest in peace and may the Lord bless you and keep you. May his perpetual light shine on you.

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